


Senior Year at Central

by pollypocket159



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Ed and Al live with Winry, Established Lust/ Envy, Established Winry/Paninya, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Gay Panic, Greed is Ling's host brother, High School AU, Idiots in Love, M/M, Modern AU, My First Work in This Fandom, Neighbors, Not that smutty but a lil risqué, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Teacher Riza, Teacher Roy, The Homunculus are popular, homunculus - Freeform, seniors, the sins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:28:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24313549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pollypocket159/pseuds/pollypocket159
Summary: It's Edward Elric's senior year at Central High School and he just wants to finish the year without any issues. This proves to be difficult when the most popular kids in school, who nicknamed themselves "The Sins", all seem bent on making sure he doesn't have a good time and when his popular neighbor apparently has taken on a very annoying host brother from abroad. An annoying host brother who seems to think he can get under Ed's skin and infiltrate his life. Not that he'd succeed at that or anything.Aka high school au where Ed and Al and Winry all live together and their neighbor, Greed, the local bad boy, takes on Ling as an exchange student. The teachers are all the military from Central and the Homunculi are the mean popular kids. Ed doesn't want to admit that he is slowly developing feelings for Ling and The Sins don't want him to have a normal uninterrupted time in high school. Ed is emo, Al is a pastel soft boi, and Winry is on the robotics team. Be prepared for much fluff and angst.
Relationships: Alphonse Elric & Original Character(s), Alphonse Elric/Original Character(s), Edward Elric & Ling Yao, Edward Elric/Ling Yao, Envy & Lust (Fullmetal Alchemist), Envy/Lust (Fullmetal Alchemist), Gracia Hughes & Maes Hughes, Gracia Hughes/Maes Hughes, Paninya & Winry Rockbell, Paninya/Winry Rockbell, Riza Hawkeye & Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye/Roy Mustang
Comments: 9
Kudos: 40





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Hey you guys! My friend recently showed me Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood and I really, really enjoyed it! Edling occurred to me during the whole Gluttony scene (particularly the fist bump I was like hmm) and I decided to see if there were any fics about it and there were! And now I'm here writing my own :)
> 
> I hope to be updating regularly, I'm very excited to be writing this. I have a lot of ideas for this au and I hope you guys like reading it as much as I enjoyed creating it and writing it down :)
> 
> Some of these chapters will have art done by my wonderful friend Jamie (thank you SO much ily for doing this for me it looks amazing :')) PLEASE go support the artist!  
> Insta: corrugated.cardboard  
> Tumblr: corrugated-cardboard
> 
> Thank you for reading!

Ed is awoken by a loud pounding on his bedroom door. He scrunches his eyebrows and hopes that whoever decided now would be prime time to wake him up would stop and let him go back to sleep. He vaguely remembers that it’s supposed to be the first day of school but perhaps if he just stays in bed and pretends a little longer…

“Ed, wake up, you better not be going back to sleep!” Winry shouts through the closed door of his bedroom, “I’m leaving early to meet up with Paninya before class and grandma has to take a customer call so it’s up to you if you’re getting to school on time. Al is already up, you better be too, soon!”

Ed grunts in affirmation and listens as her footsteps recede, flipping over onto his stomach to reach for his phone and check the time, which reads 8:09. Somewhere deeper in the house he thinks he can make out the sounds of Al banging around in the kitchen, no doubt already too energetic for how early it is. As he pushes his blankets aside to get up and stretch, movement from outside his window catches his eye. He makes his way over to his closet, yawning, and pushes the curtains back just a little to peek out at the neighbor’s driveway. Just as he thought, Greed stands by his motorcycle pulling on a helmet, wearing his stupid sleeveless jean jacket with the fur collar, his school bag, of course, nowhere in sight. Ed rolls his eyes. The guy is attractive, sure, but he never understood what girls found so irresistible about the whole “bad boy” getup. Frankly, he’s glad that despite being neighbors, Ed never really saw the guy too often, and even more glad that Winry never fell for his idiotic smirk and stupid aviator sunglasses; she was dating Paninya.

He watches, zipping up his red hoodie, as Greed revs his engine and speeds off, unsurprisingly in the opposite direction from school. Last year Ed might’ve assumed he was going to meet up with the rest of The Sins to do whatever the most popular squad in school does outside of class, but sometime during the month of July Winry had flung open the front door, eyes wide and brimming with excitement, announcing that she heard from someone on her robotics squad that someone had heard that The Sins had collectively decided they wanted nothing to do with Greed anymore. Winry had said, leaning in close like she was telling her brothers a secret, that she heard that Greed had gotten mixed up with the “wrong sort”, thus betraying the trust of the others. She thought it meant that he had hooked up with the wrong girl, maybe someone who Wrath or Sloth had a crush on. Al wasn’t above speculating that he had done something illegal. Ed didn’t care.

As he makes his way to the kitchen, Ed wonders if Greed not being a member of The Sins anymore would mean that he would be forced to revoke his ridiculous nickname and go by… not Greed. The thought seems very strange to him.

“Good morning!” Al calls out as Ed skulks past him to the cabinets by the stove, pulling out a bag of bagels.

“Hey.” Ed grunts, stretching his arms over his head. “I made you some coffee…” Al says, smiling bashfully, holding out Ed’s favorite mug for him to take, steam curling up from the fresh brew, filling Ed’s nostrils with a pleasantly familiar scent. He smiles, taking the cup from his brother and taking a long, much-needed drink.

“Thanks Al, you’re a saint.” Ed says, a wide grin on his face. Al’s smile widens a bit as he picks up his own cup.

“What’s your first class today?” Al asks, sitting down on one of the counter stools.

“Advanced chemistry,” Ed says around the bite of the bagel he just took, “thank GOD. I liked it a lot last year, and Mr. Mustang was so cool. Always lit stuff on fire. Hopefully there will just be a few other seniors in there with me. I’m tired of people not caring about the subject as much as they should.” He swallows his bagel and takes another sip of coffee, “what about you?”

“English,” Al says, shrugging, “at least you said it’s easy. Didn’t you say Mr. Armstrong was nice?”

“Oh yeah. He’s a softie,” Ed responds, taking another bite of his bagel, “always makes sure his students understand the material and gets emotional over the books we read. You’ll have to tell me all of the wacky stories you’re bound to get from him this year.”

Al nods, grinning from ear to ear, “I will! And maybe you’ll make friends with some of the other people in your advanced chemistry class, since you’ll all share a similar interest!”

“Yeah right, no thank you.”

“Will you at least try? Aren’t you tired of only eating lunch with either me and my friends, who are all juniors, or with Winry and her friends, who talk about robotics stuff like 90% of the time?”

“No. Are you?”

“No.”

“Good,” Ed says, shoving the rest of his bagel in his mouth and downing the rest of his cup of coffee, “you ready to go?”

Al sighs, rolling his eyes good-naturedly, getting up off his stool. “I am. When are you going to embrace that you’re maybe just a little emo?” he says, walking over to the front door where his pastel blue backpack lies in wait.

“I am not emo for just not liking most of the people in my grade.” Ed grunts, picking up his black backpack with the skull patch and slinging it over his shoulder, shoving his fists into the pockets of his hoodie. Al just giggles.

Al jogs outside ahead of Ed who takes a little more time pulling on his shoes and locking the front door behind them. He looks at his reflection in the sliding glass door separating the front door from the outside, tugging on his bangs to try and make them look more presentable. He checks the time on his phone, noting that they only have 20 minutes to make the 15 minute walk to school and get to class before the bell rings.

“Hey Al, we really should hurry,” Ed calls out, turning around and starting down the path from their front door to the sidewalk “it’s almost…” the rest of his sentence dies on his tongue as he notices that Al is not alone.

The boy he is standing next to is tall, taller than both of them, with long black hair tied up loosely with a white ribbon, the ponytail doing nothing to keep his bangs out of his face. He’s wearing a cropped yellow jacket and sweatpants, and if Ed is caught staring it’s because he thinks it looks stupid. Is he even allowed to wear that? He looks ridiculous.The boy turns and looks at Ed, smirking.

“Ed! This is Ling!” Al says, turning to look at Ed, a dazzling smile on his face, “We just met. He’s on an exchange program and Greed is his host brother! He’s gonna go to school with us!”

“Greed took on an exchange student?” Ed asks, cocking an eyebrow. His gaze never leaves Ling’s face. Ling cocks an eyebrow in response.

“I don’t know why you’re so surprised that… Ed, was it? My host brother has been rather kind in making me feel welcome in this country.” Ling says.

“Really?” Ed asks, the newly received information sitting kind of strangely in his brain. He tries to no avail to imagine Greed willingly choosing to be friends with anyone who wouldn’t directly help his social status. The dude was kind of… rogue.

“Yes. I was asking Al if he would show me the way to school? Obviously I don’t really know my way around that well by myself yet.” Ling says, shrugging.

“Of course!” Al says at the same time that Ed says “Why isn’t your brother able to show you the way?”

“Ed!” Al exclaims as Ling laughs.

“He said he had something to do before school today. Don’t worry, he’s shown me the way to school before, but it wouldn’t hurt to get some backup, just in case.” he says, unsuccesfully attempting to brush his bangs out of his face.

“Of course we’ll walk with you! Right, Ed?” Al says, glancing pointedly at his brother, “I’m not sure how much we’ll be able to help you find your classes, though. What’s your first class?” He turns and starts to walk, Ling following him. Ed narrows his eyes, clenching his fists in his pockets, but follows as well.

“Oh, I’m taking advanced chemistry! You said you were a junior, right? So you wouldn’t be taking it, I assume?” Ling says, looking at Al, whose eyebrows shoot up in excitement.

“Really? No, I don’t, but Ed is in that class! With Mr. Mustang, right?” he says, looking over at his brother and smiling, as if this was good news.

“You are? Consider me impressed. I didn’t know it was possible to take advanced chemistry as a sophomore!” Ling says, looking at Ed, whose face immediately flushes.

“Who are you calling a sophomore? I’m a senior!” He shouts, “I’m Al’s OLDER brother!” Ling smirks that stupid smirk again.

“Oh! My apologies. I just assumed because of-”

“You say one more word and I will not hesitate to punch you in the face.”

A mischievous grin spreads across Ling’s face as he says “Are you sure you can even reach that high?”

By the time they reach the school, Ed has firmly decided that Ling is an annoying pain in the ass who smirks too much. He's ready to get to class and they only have three minutes until the bell rings.

“Bye Ed, good luck today! I think we’re gonna eat lunch across from the nurses office today! Ling, you can join us if you want to, if Greed is busy or something!” Al calls as he walks backwards in the direction of the stairs before turning around and hurrying off, leaving Ed and Ling alone in the rush of students filtering through the main commons.

“So… Mr. Mustang’s class is this way.” Ed says, jerking his thumb over his shoulder and turning to walk in the direction of the science wing.

He feels Ling's presence weaving in and out of students also on their way to class right behind him, but doesn't say anything else. It's not that he's exactly opposed to a stranger suddenly getting a little too familiar with him, but... actually, he's kind of opposed. He's in school to learn, not to get all cozy with random people. He's never really had the best of luck with keeping friends, so he's kind of cautious. Al was always the nice one between them, not Ed.

“Thank you for letting me walk with you to school and to class.” Ling says from beside him after a moment. Ed’s face flushes with color.

“Oh, uh… it’s no problem of course, it would be rude to leave you by yourself when I could be helpful…” he says, running a hand through his bangs, stopping in front of a classroom, “we’re here.”

As they walk into Mr. Mustang’s advanced chemistry class, Ed does a quick scan of the room. There are only about ten people in the room, occupying primarily the first two rows of desks out of three. He recognizes most of them, smiling at a girl named Sheska who was in his introductory chemistry course last year. She’s a little book-crazy, but enthusiastic, which made her a good partner when they were paired up for labs. Kain Fuery, who sat next to Ed in Algebra, sits in the front row, and Ed is happy to see him as well. He was smart and humble, and Ed always turned to him if he had a question. His gaze trails to the lab bench at the front of the room where Mr. Mustang stands, leaning his elbows on the edge of the table and scrolling through something on a laptop. He looks up when they enter the room, and the moment he recognizes Ed he is smiling.

“Hey, sir!” Ed says, smiling as well.

“Ed, welcome!” Mustang says, straightening out a little bit, “Did you enjoy your break?”

“Eh, it was all right,” Ed replies, but he is still smiling, “can’t really have a peaceful time when you’re living with Winry.”

“Sound’s eventful!” Mustang chuckles, his gaze slipping from Ed to Ling, who is still standing in the doorway, “Hi! And you are…”

“I’m Ling Yao.” Ling says, walking over and shaking Mustang’s hand, “I’m an exchange student this year. My chemistry teacher back home wrote me a letter of recommendation to get into advanced chemistry here?”

“Yes, I remember, he said many good things,” Mustang says warmly, “I’m glad to get to work with you, Ling.”

Ed immediately makes a beeline for the back corner and sits down. Ling sits down next to him. Ed tenses for a second. He likes sitting by himself in the back corner because he feels undisturbed there, like he's in his own little bubble. Now he is trapped between the wall and Ling.

“Is it alright if I sit here? I just don’t know very many people here yet, and you and Al have been kind to me so far.” Ling asks, slipping his bag off his shoulder and sitting down. Ed blinks.

"Um..." he stares at Ling, "sure." he says, unable to keep the note of uncertainty out of his voice. Ling chuckles.

"I know you've got your whole emo thing," Ling starts, gaze dropping momentarily to Ed's black skull backpack and then back up to Ed's eyes, "which is cute and all," Ed's jaw twitches, "but I think we could really help each other in this class. And besides,” he props his elbow up on his desk and leans in a little, his voice dropping, “you seem like you shouldn't pass up the chance to make new friends, should you?”

Ed opens his mouth to say something witty, but finds he has nothing to say. Ling is staring at him, something hesitant reflected in his deep dark eyes, a determination masked by uncertainty, a question. Ed knew they were close but he realizes suddenly just _how_ close together they are in this corner and suddenly feels very claustrophobic. He is definitely feeling very trapped between the wall and Ling, whose gaze pins him to his seat. Has it always been this hot in this school?

"U-uh..." Ed stammers, and he doesn't miss the way the corner of Ling's mouth curls up ever so slightly in a smirk. He can feel the tips of his ears burning.

His attention is caught, suddenly, by the arrival of someone at the classroom door. His gaze flits over, glad for the distraction, and his reaction is immediate. His jaw clenches and he instinctively rolls his eyes, a frustrated noise leaving his lips. Ling, still leaning towards Ed, turns his head and glances at the girl who just walked in.

“Who is that?” he asks, genuine curiosity evident in his voice.

“Lust.” Ed says, unable to keep the bitter edge out of his tone. What is she doing here? Is she really also taking advanced chemistry?

Ed watches as she strolls in, sending Mustang a sweet smile, and setting her purse (because apparently a school bag just isn’t cool enough) down on a desk in the front row. Mustang looks up, but the smile he gives her is just a little strained. Satisfaction settles in the pit of Ed’s stomach. At least his favorite teacher can see through the sweet facade she puts up. She reaches up and pulls her thick brown hair into a ponytail. The boy next to her (Ed thinks his name is Jean Havoc) doesn’t conceal his staring.

“I assume she’s one of The Sins that my host brother talked about?” Ling asks quietly. Ed nods.

“She may look nice and all the guys think she’s hot, but don’t be fooled. She’s kind of a bitch.” Ed responds, lowering his voice as well.

“She does have a… certain charm about her.” Ling muses out loud. Ed chuckles.

“You’ll be sad to learn she’s in a relationship. With Envy. They’re on the volleyball team and kind of intense.”

“Ed, you just told me she’s kind of a bitch. I’m not interested. Besides, Greed doesn’t really like her either.” Ling says, brow furrowing in skepticism.

Ed’s laughter is drowned out by the sound of the bell announcing the beginning of first period. Turns out Ling is a very interesting person to sit next to. Since it’s the first class of the year, most of it is spent outlining the syllabus and doing dumb mandatory class introductions. Lust informs everyone that she spent her summer on a private beach; Ed rolls his eyes. He also learns that Ling taught some combat summer courses at a camp back home. He is surprised, but only because he didn't peg the guy for an athlete. The entire time Mustang is going over the syllabus Ling spends drawing caricatures of The Sins based on descriptions of them Ed writes in the margins of his own syllabus. In what seems like no time at all, the bell to end first period is ringing and the students, including Ling and Ed, are gathering their stuff to hurry to second period.

“Just to be sure… you wouldn’t mind if I found you and Al during lunch?” Ling asks, slipping his vandalized syllabus into his bag. They discovered during the period that they do not have any more classes together before break.

“I… yeah, that's ok.” Ed says, shrugging, “Greed wouldn’t mind? You haven’t seen him all day…”

“Nah, he said he had plans.” Ling says, smiling easily.

“So you’re the kid Greed decided to adopt, are you?” someone says, standing right in front of their desks. Both boys turn and come face to face with Lust, two different levels of confusion written across their faces.

“I… no? Yes? He didn’t adopt-” Ling starts, but Lust cuts him off, putting her hands on his desk, leaning in. Ed doesn’t miss the way Ling leans away just slightly.

“He is not a good person. Ling, wasn't it? You should stay away from him,” she says, taking the collar of Ling’s jacket and smoothing it out, “before it’s too late.” With that, she suddenly smiles sweetly at Ling, glances over at Ed briefly, and walks off, flipping her hair over her shoulder. Ling turns to look at Ed, who shrugs, sliding his backpack on, tugging on his bangs.

“Should I be worried?” Ling asks as they make their way out of the classroom.

“I don’t know,” Ed says honestly, “did Greed tell you about what happened between them this summer? I don’t know the details, but if I’m being honest I never really liked either of them, so I can’t exactly confirm or deny. No offense. I was surprised when you said Greed was your host brother.”

“Oh, no, Greed is actually really cool!” Ling says, “He just… well, he’s just never had a good group of friends, you know? The Sins were kind of toxic, in more ways than you can imagine. I don’t know how much I should be telling you about this actually…” he suddenly muses. After a moment of deliberation, he smiles again. “Whatever. I'll just ignore her. I’ll see you at lunch, yeah?” he asks, and Ed nods, perplexed. Smiling, Ling turns to walk in the direction of the stairs. His long ponytail sways with every step.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! It's been a little bit. School ended and I had some loose ends to tie up, but I'm super excited to share this chapter with you guys! You guys will get to meet the best oc I think I've ever made ;) he's a cutie.
> 
> Thank you for reading as always!
> 
> There is no art in this chapter but there will be in the next one :)

After fourth period Ed, to his surprise, bumps into Al in the hallway.

“Al? What are you doing in the social studies wing? Is your world class fourth period?” he asks, eyebrows shooting up in surprise.

“I do! You have government now, too, right? Are you going to lunch or are you gonna text Winry?” Al asks, falling into step next to Ed as they round the corner.

“I’ll join you guys… I uh… Ling said he’d join you and I wouldn’t want him to feel uncomfortable with all your friends…” He says, rubbing the back of his neck. Al whips his head around to look at Ed, an excited smile on his face.

“So you like him? You think he’s cool?” he asks.

“Huh? Nobody said anything about cool.” Ed says, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Come on, Ed! I can tell you like him!” Al says as they round the corner into the hallway where his friends are. Ed glares straight ahead and is about to reply with something snarky when one of Al’s friends, Ryan, notices them approaching.

“Hey Al!” he calls out, waving, his smile warm and bright as he looks at Ed’s brother. Ed watches as Al smiles back shyly, pink lightly dusting his face. His hands play with the straps of his backpack nervously. Ed nudges him with his elbow.

“Come on, Al! I can tell you like him!” he says, laughing as Al’s blush deepens and he mumbles something incoherent under his breath.

Ed watches when they reach the group as Al slips off his backpack and sits down next to Ryan, who is still smiling softly, more personally for Al.

“Your hair looks nice today!” Al says as he sits, and Ed chuckles lightly as Ryan blushes and runs his fingers through his wavy quiff, mumbling a flustered “thank you”.

“What’s up Ed?” Al’s friend Jamie asks as Ed sits down, grabbing an apple from his backpack.

“Hey…” he says, sighing as he takes a bite, “it’s been an eventful day.”

“Tell me about it! Hard classes?” Jamie asks, opening a bag of chips.

“You could say that. Met someone interesting today.” Ed replies. Jamie laughs.

“Really? Who?” Ryan chimes in. Ed shrugs.

“You know how Greed is our neighbor? He’s taken on an exchange student and Al and I met him today. He’s in my advanced chemistry class. He’s… cool. But I can’t get over how weird it is that Greed took on an exchange student. He might join us for lunch, actually.”

“Woah… I never expected Greed to be the type… he’s so… he operates by himself, usually.” Al’s other friend Miles exclaims. Everyone nods in agreement.

“That's what I thought!” begins Ed, “but then Ling started telling me how cool he was and-”

Movement at the end of the hall catches his eye. He was about to say more, but his attention has been completely absorbed by the sight of Ling and Greed walking down the hall together. It’s one thing to know that Ling is living in the same house as Greed, but it’s another to see them walking together like they’re best friends. However, Ed is surprised to discover that he… likes how they look together. Greed’s sleeveless jacket with the fur collar that Ed saw on him this morning exposes his biceps (which Ed does not want to admit are pretty impressive), his aviators pushed up on his forehead, resting atop his styled hair. Ling’s cropped jacket definitely reveals toned abs, and Ed would be lying if he said he didn’t think the ponytail looked pretty badass. Both of them look like they’re fully equipped to beat the shit out of anyone who looks at them wrong. They look like they could easily beat you in a fight and not break a sweat. They look like the school womanizers.

“Is… is that him?” Jamie asks. Ed nods.

“Hey, Ed! Al!” Ling says as he approaches in greeting.

“Hey. Uh… you... guys live next door, right?” Greed asks, stopping by their group awkwardly. Ed almost chokes. He can’t remember a single time when Greed willingly directly acknowledged their existence, let alone spoken to them.

“Y-yeah, we do.” Al says, and a quick glance over at his brother reveals that Al’s face also bears an expression of barely concealed bewilderment. Greed looks over at Ling, almost pleadingly. It’s a strange sight.

“I like your motorcycle,” says Ed suddenly, breaking the weird silence, “I’ve seen it parked in front of your house and it’s… it’s… cool.” Greed smiles, and Ed cringes at how awkward he probably sounds.

“Isn’t she pretty? I take good care of my baby.” he says, reaching up to slide his aviators from his head to his face, “I really gotta head out right now but... I could give you a ride sometime if you want?” Ed’s eyebrows shoot up his forehead, “Later, Ling!” and with that he turns and strides away, hands in his pockets, completely oblivious to Ed’s steadily reddening face.

“Did he just offer you guys a ride on his motorcycle?” Miles asks, eyes wide.

“Did the hottest dude in school just talk to you? Let’s start with that.” Jamie says incredulously.

“Hottest dude in school, huh?” Ryan asks, laughing.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t say he’s the hottest dude in school.” Al mumbles from his spot right beside Ryan. Ed snorts and Al sends him a glare.

“I told him to,” Ling says, sitting down next to Ed. Almost too close. His knee brushes Ed’s. “hey Ed.” he says, voice dropping in pitch. Ed isn’t sure why his heart stutters irregularly for a second.

“You did?” Al asks, his voice bringing Ed’s thoughts back to the conversation. Greed. Right.

“Yeah, I told him he really needs to open up. I thought his neighbors would be a good place to start. I’m Ling, by the way.”

Jamie, Miles, and Ryan all introduce themselves. Ling doesn’t move further away from Ed as he asks Al’s friends questions about their life, school, and hobbies. He responds to questions that they have loudly and enthusiastically. It’s a lot. Ling is a lot. Ed usually tries to stay away from loud, cocky, overly-charismatic people, the type that Ling is the very definition of. It’s overwhelming. His gut coils defensively as Ling suddenly leans forward excitedly to discuss a show that both he and Miles have seen. He doesn’t understand why Al likes him so much. He seems very intimidating. And yet, as he watches Ling’s face break into a dazzling grin at something Jamie says, the tension in his stomach is replaced with a fluttering...

“Yo, Elrics!” a voice rings out from down the hall. They all turn. Ryan is the first to greet the teacher walking down the hall towards them.

“Hey Mr. Hughes!” he says, waving in greeting.

“Ryan, what’s up? Am I going to be seeing you in my world class sixth period?” he asks, stopping by their group and leaning a shoulder against the wall. Ryan nods his head.

“I think so! In room 219 right?”

“Yep! Can’t wait to see you then! How was your summer?”

“It was all right,” Ryan says, smiling warmly. Mr. Hughes was a popular teacher at school. He was the kind of teacher everyone considered a second father. Some, like the Elrics, considered him a primary father figure.

“What’s up, Hughes? What are you doing over here?” Jamie asks.

“Just stopping to say hi to the lovely nurse Gracia and wish her a good start to the year.” Hughes smiles involuntarily, reaching up and running a hand through his hair.

“Aww” Jamie says, which makes Hughes look down bashfully.

“You should ask her out, Mr. Hughes!” Miles says, grinning and raising an eyebrow. Hughes laughs and fixes his tie as he pushes off the wall and walks over to the door of the nurse’s office.

“You kids are too much.” he says simply, opening the door and walking into the office.

“Who wants to place a bet on how long it’ll take him to actually do it?” Jamie asks the group.

“If he deals with crushes like a certain brother of mine does, it’s gonna take a long time. Didn’t we see a lot of him around here all of last year?” Ed says, looking pointedly at Al, whose face immediately turns the color of a ripe strawberry. Ryan looks down, fixing his glasses uncomfortably.

“Ed!” Als say pleadingly, covering his face with his hands. While he succeeds in covering the angry blush on his face, the burning tips of his ears give him away anyways. Miles laughs and Jamie takes a sip from a bottle of water, eyebrows raised.

“Al, you have a crush? Don’t be embarrassed!” Ling says, oblivious to the way Ryan is currently looking at Al right beside him. Miles barks out another laugh.

“I don’t!” Al says, removing his hands from his face and avoiding making eye contact with anyone in the group, “you guys! We were talking about Mr. Hughes!” Ryan giggles, a fond expression on his face, and a look of understanding suddenly passes over Ling’s face. The corner of his mouth twitches in amusement.

“Speaking of Mr. Hughes,” he says, and relief floods Al’s face at the subject change. Ed and Miles exchange a look and let out an amused snort, “Ryan, did you say you had world sixth period in room 219? I think I do too!”

“So do I!” Jamie says, high-fiving Ling and a mildly flushed Ryan, “That is gonna be a lit class!” Edward sighs internally. Guess he really is going to have to be friends with Ling. Jamie and Ryan immediately launch into an explanation of how cool Mr. Hughes is. Ling listens, intrigued. How did this happen so quickly? Ed sighs, and soon enough, their lunch period is over and their little hallway becomes crowded with students on their way to fifth period.

“You have psychology now, right?” Ryan asks Al as their group stands up to start walking to their respective classes.

“Yeah...” he says, slipping his backpack onto his shoulders and turning in the direction of the english wing.

“I’ll walk you.” Ryan says quickly, and the two of them turn and merge into the crowd of students.

“Well those two can go pine their asses off without all of us having to witness it alone now.” Jamie says, smiling good-naturedly. Ling laughs. Ed shakes his head.

“For real. Now let’s also get to class before we’re late.” Miles says, tousling his dark curls and picking up his bag.

“It was nice to meet you guys!” Ling says, slipping his hands into his pockets as Miles and Jamie turn to walk down the hall together, “I’ll see you in world, Jamie!” Jamie and Miles flash him smiles over their shoulders. Now alone in the busy hallway, Ling turns to Ed. He takes a step in and the corner of his mouth quirks upwards.

“Give me your phone.” he says, holding out his hand.

“Why?” Ed asks, tensing immediately. Ling chuckles.

“I want to give you my number. Isn’t it obvious?” he asks. Ed pauses. Ling raises an eyebrow. Finally Ed sighs and pulls his phone out of his pocket. Ling’s smirk only grows as he types something into Ed’s phone.

“Charming Neighbor,” Ed reads from the contact when Ling hands him his phone back, “very funny.”

“I think what you meant to say is very charming,” Ling says, winking, “I already texted myself so you can’t pretend to get rid of me now.” Ed rolls his eyes.

“Bye Ling.” he says, turning to walk as far away from inquisitive deep grey eyes and dark sweeping bangs as he can.

Turns out staying away from Ling and his intense energy is a difficult task, because as he walks into his eighth period gym class, the first person Ed sees is Ling, leaning against a wall, already changed into a tank top, toned arms crossed across his chest as he leans against the wall. Almost immediately he looks up and locks eyes with Edward. A smile spread across his face as he makes his way over to Ed.

“Well well well.” he says, leaning his shoulder against the wall by Edward’s head.

“Hey Ling.” he says. Before Ling can say anything else, the most intense woman Ed has ever seen walks into the gym from the locker rooms, her long blonde hair cascading down her back. She blows her whistle so loud everyone in the room falls silent immediately.

“All right!” she barks out, reminding Ed of a military general, “I’m Coach Armstrong, welcome to class. The syllabus is don’t be a wuss. If you feel like throwing up, there are trash cans in the corners. We’re gonna start with running two miles! Go!”

Everyone in the room begins to move, slowly at first, almost all startled by her suddenness. Ed and Ling also push off the wall, settling into an easy jog. Occasionally Ling talks to him, but after a while both of them have eased into a breathing pattern to make the run easier for them. Ling is really fit, Ed notices with an inward groan. He wishes he didn’t notice that. He has the powerful legs of a runner. His posture is excellent. His bangs flop in his face as always but he doesn’t seem bothered by it at all. It is not fair. Ed likes to consider himself in good shape, but he finds that keeping up with Ling is rendering him more winded than he would like. Ling doesn’t even look like he’s tired.

He gets his chance to redeem himself when they are doing pushups. Though it’s just a strength training exercise, with a mere glance, cock of the eyebrow, and smirk, Ed and Ling quickly turn it into a competition. A few years ago Ed nearly lost his arm in an accident, and had to undergo intense physical therapy to get it back to full operation. Since then he has prided himself in keeping up good physical form. With the first push up they do together, Ed notices the flex in Ling’s arms. His intimidation, however, vanishes with their second pushup, when Ling’s left elbow quivers just the slightest bit. They lock eyes and for the first time since they’ve met, Ed is the one cocking an eyebrow and smirking while Ling frowns and glares. After 44 pushups, Ling’s forearms are shaking considerably on the way down. Ed’s arms are burning as well, but he is so confident in his ability to beat Ling that when Ling collapses on pushup 47, Ed only manages to do 3 more before he too collapses. Somehow, even though Coach Armstrong pushes them harder than Ed has ever been pushed in his life, Ed feels like he’s in for a good year of gym class.

“So that was… an intense class.” Ed says as he and Ling leave the locker rooms.

“Indeed! I’m glad the physical requirements at the schools here are vigorous. Although I would like to see how well you’d do in such a class back in my own country…” Ling replies, looking straight ahead.

“You’re saying it’s even more intense where you come from?” Ed says, a little shocked.

“Oh yes!” Ling says, smiling so that the edges of his eye crinkle in amusement, “our gymnasium had all sorts of equipment in it. That’s where I began to learn combat, in the after school classes.”

“When you say combat, do you mean like martial arts?” Ed asks, genuinely curious.

“Oh yes! I find it really thrilling!”

“Hey Ed! Ling!” Al calls from where he’s waiting by the front doors as Ed and Ling leave the building.

“Hey Al!” Ed says as he approaches.

“You walking home today, Ling?” Al asks. Ling smiles sheepishly.

“Actually…” he says, sweeping his gaze across the courtyard. His gaze finds its mark and he waves. Before Ed can even register what is happening, Greed is walking up to them, bike helmet under his arm.

“Hey Ling. Hey Elrics.” he says once he stops by their little group.

“You know our last name?” Ed asks without really thinking. He mentally slaps himself. He really has to stop saying the first thing that comes to his head when Greed is around. The guy is popular and attractive, it’s hard not to panic.

“Of course dude, you guys live next door. Why wouldn’t I? You ready to go, Ling?” he says. The entire situation is so bizarre that Ed can’t help but look around to see if anyone else has noticed that he and Al are currently partially engaged in conversation with a previous member of The Sins. The front doors of the school open.

“Yeah, let’s go.” Ling says. Lust exits the building, holding Envy’s hand and Gluttony hot on their trail.

“Greed, wait.” Ed finds himself saying. Sloth and Wrath follow Lust out of the school, a kid who looks about 10 with them.

“What?” Greed asks, but it’s too late. As if she’s drawn to his voice, Lust turns and zeros in her cold stare on Greed. She wrinkles her nose, and says something to Envy, who turns and smirks unkindly in Greed’s direction.

“Hey, Greed!” Lust calls out, voice dripping with feigned sweetness. Greed’s jaw clenches in annoyance as he turns around to watch the pack of popular kids approach. They look downright mean, with Lust in the middle, Envy in their volleyball uniform on one side, Sloth and Wrath in their football uniforms on the other, Gluttony trailing behind them and cracking his oversized knuckles.

“What’s up, buddy?” Envy purrs maliciously as they approach, “hanging out with your new friends?”

“It’s the first day of school and you guys are already getting on my nerves.” Greed says, his voice cold and dry.

“Too bad we never got the chance to be friends at school, Greed,” the child says, making an appearance from behind Wrath.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” Al asks, brows set, a determined fire to not back down in the face of danger in his eyes.

“It’s Pride.” Greed says cooly, “Wrath’s younger brother. He’s like 12 but he skipped two grades. And now he’s riding on the coattails of his brother’s friends.”

“Pride is way cooler than you, buddy,” Envy says, tilting their chin up to smile down their nose at Greed, “he doesn’t abandon his friends.”

“Yeah, look, I don’t really care,” Greed says, the only thing giving any indication about how he really feels being his clenched jaw, “let’s go, Ling.” Ling turns and gives Ed and Al an apologetic smile as he follows Greed through the small crowd of students that have gathered to not-so-subtly eavesdrop on the conversation between Greed and The Sins.

Ed and Al are left alone.

“What are you looking at, you bean-sized runt?” Envy snarls at Ed, who immediately tenses up and gets ready to throw down, but stops when Al puts a hand on his arm.

“Brother.” he says as a warning, and with a final up-and-down glance at the two of them, Lusts flips her hair over her shoulder and leads The Sins away.

“Wow.” Al says as he and Ed start their walk back home.

“Wow.” Ed echoes back.

“Can you believe they just up and replaced Greed with Pride like that? The poor guy…”

“For real.”

They walk home in silence after that, both of them processing the events of that day. Ed was never really one for drama, but suddenly it feels like he wants to know what’s up with Greed. He had spoken to them on two separate occasions today, and what was even stranger than that was that it seemed like Ed was maybe… becoming friends with his exchange student? Perhaps meeting Ling was why Ed was suddenly intrigued by what happened with Greed and the rest of the Sins. What a crazy life he suddenly found himself leading!

As he walks into the house and kicks off his shoes, he feels his phone buzz in his pocket. It isn’t until a few minutes later after he gathers some snacks and is reclining on his bed that Ed checks it to find a message from Ling that says “Hey, boy next door” with a winky face emoji. Ed smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohhh my gosh I love Ryan so much. And I was really into writing the scene with The Sins.
> 
> Feel free to leave a comment telling me what you think!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you, I hope you enjoyed this! Feel free to leave me a comment telling me what you thought :)
> 
> Again, don't forget to go follow and support my amazing friend Jamie!!!  
> Insta: corrugated.cardboard  
> Tumblr: corrugated-cardboard
> 
> Next part coming soon!


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